Bombay High Court: Hearing a public interest litigation, a Bench comprising of BP Dharmadhikari and ZA Haq, JJ. directed the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to consider directing the media to refrain from using the word Dalit when referring to members of Scheduled Castes.
The Court was hearing a petition filed against the use of the word in official government documents. The petitioner informed the Court that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has already advised the Central Government to refrain from using any term apart from “Scheduled Caste” when referring to persons falling under the category. The Court was also informed that the State Government is also deliberating on taking appropriate action on the same.
The petitioner’s advocate then pointed out that similar directions to refrain from using the word were yet to be issued to the media. The Court then directed the Central Government to consider the question of issuing such direction to the media and take a suitable decision upon it within next six weeks. [Pankaj alias Lalitji Meshram v. Joint Secretary, Public Interest Litigation No. 114 of 2016, decided on 06-06-2018]
